Employment rate in EU up to 73.2% in 2018, 73.9% in Cyprus

In 2018, the employment rate of people aged 20 to 64 in the European Union stood at 73.2%, up compared with 2017 (72.2%), according to the 2018 results of the European Labour Force Survey, published by Eurostat.

According to Eurostat, the employment rate for men hit 79.0% in 2018, and has increased steadily since 2013. As for women, their employment rate has continuously risen since 2010 to reach 67.4% in 2018. Similarly, the employment rate of persons aged 55 to 64 in the EU has grown steadily, from 38.4% in 2002 to 58.7% in 2018.

Employment in Cyprus for 2017 was 70.8% (75.7 for males and 66.2% for females) and increased to 73.9% in 2018 (79.3% for males and 68.9% for females), very close to the Europe 2020 target of 75%.

Meanwhile the Employment rate of people aged 55 to 64 (%) in Cyprus was 55.3% in 2017 (64.9% for males and 46.2% for females) and increased to 60.9% for 2018 (70.3% for males and 51.9% for females).

In Greece, employment increased from 57.8% in 2017 (67.7% for males and 48.0% for females) to 59.5% in 2018 (70.1% for males and 49.1% for females), still away from the 70.0% of the Europe 2020 strategy.

Employment rate of people aged 55 to 64 in Greece was 38.3% in 2017 (49.6% for males and 28.0% for females) and increased to 41.1% in 2018 (53.3% for males and 30.0% for females).

Compared with 2017, the employment rate for those aged 20 to 64 increased in 2018 in all Member States without exception.

Among these Member States, Czechia, Germany, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Portugal, Slovenia and Sweden have already met or exceeded their 2020 national targets for this indicator in 2018, as have Ireland, Croatia, Malta, Poland and Slovakia. On the other hand, the lowest employment rate was observed in Greece (59.5%), although it grew over the year (+1.7 pp), followed by Italy (63.0%, +0.7 pp), Croatia (65.2%, +1.6 pp) as well as Spain (67.0%, +1.5 pp).

Employment rates of men and women continued however to vary considerably in many Member States in 2018. The difference between the employment rate of women and that of men aged 20 to 64 was lowest in Lithuania (76.7% for women vs. 79.0% for men, or -2.3 pp), Finland (-3.7 pp), Latvia (-4.2 pp) and Sweden (-4.3 pp). At the opposite end of the scale, the largest difference between the employment rate of women and that of men was observed in Malta (63.4% for women vs. 85.7% for men, or -22.3 pp).

Big gaps were also recorded in Greece (-21.0 pp) and Italy (-19.8 pp). At EU level, the difference between the employment rate of women aged 20 to 64 (67.4%) and that of men aged 20 to 64 (79.0%) was -11.6 pp in 2018.

From 38.4% in 2002, the employment rate of people aged 55 to 64 in the EU has grown steadily to reach 58.7% in 2018. The growth was stronger for women (from 29.1% in 2002 to 52.4% in 2018) than for men (48.2% in 2002 vs. 65.4% in 2018). As a consequence, the gap between the employment rate of women and men aged 55 to 64 in the EU has been reduced, from a -19.1 pp difference in 2002 to a -13.0 pp difference in 2018.

In 2018, over half of the population aged 55 to 64 was in employment in twenty-one EU Member States. The highest employment rate for this age group was observed in Sweden (77.9%), ahead of Germany (71.4%), Denmark (70.7%), Estonia (68.9%), Lithuania (68.5%) and the Netherlands (67.7%). On the other hand, the lowest employment rates were registered in Luxembourg (40.5%), Greece (41.1%) and Croatia (42.8%). Compared with 2017, the employment rate for those aged 55 to 64 increased in 2018 in all EU Member States.